Cleopetra
by halfravenhalfclaw
Summary: Becoming an animagus isn't a piece of cake, even with a step-by-step guide that used to belong to your mom. But with the right person by your side (aka your extremely beautiful girlfriend) it's easier than it seems. (Cleo plus Petra)


_**Written for The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition.**_

_[Season 7] - Round 8_

_Team: Chudley Cannons_

_Position: Chaser 3 – Ace of swords – __**Upright: Breakthrough, Clarity, Sharp Mind. Reversed: Confusion, Brutality, Chaos.**_

_~I choose Upright~_

_Prompts:_

_9 (season) winter_

_11 (restriction) no Gryffindors or Slytherins_

_14 (word) immune_

_.:lll:._

_Thanks for betaing._

.:lll:.

"I know it."

"Know what?" She was thrown off by the sudden change of subject.

"I finally see everything clearly."

"See what clearly?"

"That you're full of bullshit."

Petra rolled her eyes, she had honestly expected Cleo to be against it, but there had always been that little dash of hope. It had now been busted. It wasn't even that crazy. Petra had only stated that they could become animagus with ease, but clearly, her girlfriend didn't agree.

"It would be so much fun!" she insisted.

"Yes. Ha, ha, ha. It is so much fun to risk our lives to become animals."

"So that's a yes then?"

"Of course, it is, you moron," Cleo kept her voice jokey and smile bright. For some reason, she liked dangerous stuff, which would make her a good Gryffindor, but she never just jumped into anything. She always made sure to plan everything thoroughly and predict every possible outcome. That made her a great Ravenclaw.

Petra reopened the book she had recently gotten. It had been her mom's diary from when she was a student at Hogwarts. It mostly just included normal girl struggles, like whining for pretty boys, or body anatomy, but one specific part contained a step-by-step guide to becoming an Animagus.

"What animal do you think we'll be?" Cleo asked dreamily.

"You would be a snow animal," Petra declared. She had been thinking about it a lot, and it seemed right. "They're really smart and super aesthetic."

"And because my hair is white?" She grinned. Petra turned a little pink and nodded. Also because of that.

Cleo had long chalk-white hair, the tips had recently been dyed black, which just added a perfect touch to the whole aesthetic part. Her skin was pale, but not white, and her whole look was completed with brown, sparkly eyes.

"You're going to be a cute animal, like a bunny, or a kitten."

Petra laughed softly. "Kittens are just baby cats, so I would be a cat."

"No," Cleo moved her head closer to Petra's and whispered into her ears, "you would be a kitten."

Cleo often teased Petra about the way she always petted the cats she spotted in the hallways, and of course how she always shared her breakfast with the owls who delivered letters to her. One should not forget how she smiled at students in the hallways who looked sad. But Petra knew that, in reality, Cleo admired it.

Petra turned her attention to the book again. Her dad had given it to her along with a little bag which contained some Mandrake leaves and other different things to use in the process.

"So everything we need to know is in there," Cleo gestured towards the book.

"Basically. On the last page, it says that you have to figure the final step out on your own. I asked my dad about it, and he said the same thing," she shrugged. It was mysterious, and kind of annoying that it didn't just say how to achieve the final step.

"Is it important that we figure it out before we start?"

Petra shook her head. "The next-final thing is drinking a potion, and then you just have to try and transfigure into your animal. For someone it takes years."

Cleo let out a quick puff of air. "And you say we can do this with ease?"

She nodded determinedly. "As someone clever once said; there's nothing we can't do if we just work together."

"Do you think we can do this?"

"Don't you?"

Cleo only had a short moment of hesitation. "I think that we can."

.:lll:.

Their fingers were intertwined, which didn't matter because they were wearing gloves. Petra kinda missed summer on that area, but on the other hand, she got to snuggle in front of the fire, hot cocoa and playing in the snow.

They were walking slowly around the snow-covered grounds around Hogwarts.

They had begun brewing the potion about six months ago. The final ingredient was a mandrake leaf they had kept in their mouth for a month. That way the leaf had learned about you, which was important to know which animal you would turn into.

It had only taken them a year from when they started, but that was only because they had all the ingredients beforehand. The next part was much harder, and it could take them several more years before they were finally animagus.

"What do you think the final step is?" Cleo suddenly asked.

Petra shrugged. "Probably the hardest thing we'll ever do. For most people it takes years, but it hasn't taken that long for us."

"I think it's because we're really smart," she stated.

"Maybe you are, you're the Ravenclaw."

"Just because you aren't a Ravenclaw doesn't mean you aren't smart. The other houses pass their O.W.L.s as well with great marks.

Petra groaned. "Don't remind me." It was bad enough that all the professors had to mention it every lesson. "It's only winter, but I feel like it's tomorrow."

"You'll do fine. You're bright. It was you who figured out what we should do after I spilt coffee all over the diary… sorry about that again by the way."

Petra whose cheeks had turned rosa shook her head. "It doesn't matter, we figured it out in the end."

"You did," Cleo smiled wryly.

She rolled her eyes. "I did."

They stared at each other for a few seconds, then Cleo reached into her pocket. She picked out two bottles; one with a blue cap and one with a yellow one. Petra held her breath.

"Are you ready to change our lives forever?" She asked dramatically

Petra laughed shortly but quickly stopped. If they had made even the smallest mistake this could be a question between life and death, but if they had done it right, the potion should've turned into a special colour just like Polyjuice Potion, and it had.

"Are you ready?"

Cleo nodded. "On three?"

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

Both of them emptied the bottle in one go. A series of different emotions washed over Petra. Burning, freezing, then both at the same time. Fear overtook her. Maybe they did the potion wrong? Were they going to die now? Was this it?

Suddenly it stopped.

Petra found herself lying on the ground, sweating like crazy, and breathing rapidly. She turned her head and found Cleo in the same state.

Then they cracked the biggest smiles ever. Both girls jumped from the ground and started screaming. They had done it! They had truly done it.

Cleo ran towards Petra and threw her arms around her, Petra fell backwards into the snow. They pressed their lips together but almost couldn't hold it because the smiles were still getting bigger.

"We did it!"

"We did it!" Petra repeated and kissed her girlfriend again.

.:lll:.

"Maybe…"

Petra looked up when Cleo spoke. They were sitting in the Ravenclaw dorm, which they had for the past six hours (she had already walked all the way up, and couldn't bother to do it again). Cleo was sketching what she thought her animagus form would look like, and Petra was doing her homework.

"Maybe…" she continued. "We should try to live like animals."

Petra frowned. "I don't think that's it."

"Then I give up, we've been trying for months."

"For most people it takes years, and that's adult sorcerers."

"But I'm an impatient teenager so it shouldn't take that long for me."

Petra laughed shortly and rolled her eyes, then turned serious. "I think it's something difficult, something that tests us in some way."

Cleo clasped her hands. "Near-death experience."

"No!" She stated firmly. "Not exactly. I think maybe we have to want it enough, do something to show how committed we are."

"How do we do that?"

"No idea."

The two returned to their previous occupies, but Petra started thinking. The near-death experience had crossed her mind before, but she had quickly cast it aside. Though there was something about it, so maybe…

"We have to face our biggest fears."

Cleo looked up. "You think that's it?"

"No. We have to face our biggest fears and then overcome them. That has to be it!" Petra was so sure this was it, but Cleo looked more sceptical.

"I still think we should ask McGonagall."

"Perhaps, but I don't think we could get an actual answer out of her. My dad doesn't wanna tell, and my mom's diary doesn't tell. We have to figure it out on our own."

"Okay then," Cleo nodded slowly. "We try your thing. Should we get some boggarts, or face the actual thing?"

"Perhaps we should start with boggarts, also so we make sure it's or actual biggest fears."

Cleo nodded slower than before.

.:lll:.

It was easier than you should think to get your hands on a boggart. They simply told the current Defence Against the Dark Arts professor that they wanted to practice for their O.W.L.s, and then both got that and an empty classroom.

The two stood in front of the little chest which contained the boggart.

"So who goes first?" Petra scratched the back of her head. Facing one's fear wasn't all fun and games.

"Should we flip a coin?" Cleo didn't wait for an answer before she pulled out a knut from her pocket. "Heads I start, tails you start."

They both held their breath as she threw the coin into the air. Watched it flip around. Cleo caught it. flipped it. Lifted her hand. It was heads.

"Okay then," Cleo took a deep breath. Rubbed her sweaty hands together and walked in front of the chest.

Petra took a few steps back. She considered offering to go first but knew that Cleo would refuse that she was scared. Also, it was best to just get over with it.

She waved her wand to open the chest.

The sight confused her. Petra had expected a clown to walk out, or maybe a snake, perhaps even a giant wasp, but she had never expected to see herself.

She moved her eyes towards Cleo, who didn't look surprised, she raised her wand but no words came out.

Boggart-Petra stepped forward. Its features were very alike the real Petra's, but something about it was odd. The eyes were darker and scarier, her expression was hard instead of soft.

"Are you that stupid?" The boggart asked. It clenched its fists. "Did you honestly think I loved you back? I HATE YOU."

Cleo lowered her wand and unwillingly took a step back.

"You ruined my life. It's all your fault." In less than a second, the boggart pulled out a wand and pointed it at its throat. "AVADA KEDAVRA."

"NO—" Cleo threw herself forward, but Petra caught her just in time and send a curse at the boggart so it got locked up in the chest again.

"Cleo. Cleo, it's okay. I'm right here."

She was still shaking, but slowly calmed down. Petra repeatedly stroked her back and whispered words of comfort.

After several minutes Cleo got out of her tight grip. Her eyes were red and puffy. Petra could see where the tears had streamed down and her nose was running.

"I love you."

Petra didn't even hesitate one second before embracing her girlfriend. She couldn't believe that Cleo had been building this stuff up inside of her, but she also couldn't believe she had dared stand up to that boggart knowing Petra would know out the truth.

Suddenly Cleo disappeared from her touch. Petra quickly searched the room, but it was as if she had vanished. Though a 'meow' made her look down.

The cat which had caught her eye looked just as confused as herself. It was mainly white, but the tip of the ears, tail, paws and snout were black. The sparkly brown eyes seemed oddly familiar.

"It worked!" She exclaimed. "Cleo you're a cat!" Petra beamed. It had worked!

The cat, who was Cleo, looked at itself. Petra never thought she would see a cat smile. A few seconds later the cat was gone and Cleo was embracing her again.

"It worked!"

.:lll:.

They had decided that seeing as it hadn't worked for Cleo to face to boggart, but rather face her actual fear, there was no need for Petra to face the boggart too. Instead, she had to fly out from the top of the astronomy tower.

She had been rather embarrassed to reveal her biggest fear after seeing Cleo's. But Cleo convinced her it didn't mean anything.

Cleo had wanted to walk the entire way in her animagus form but quickly discovered that having small legs wasn't always great. Petra had ended up carrying her most of the way.

When they were at the top, and Petra was sweating slightly, Cleo jumped out of her grip, walked around her legs and purred before turning back

"Are you ready."

Petra nodded and sank a lump. It was going to be alright, it was only her biggest fear after all.

"Accio nimbus."

"Accio cleansweep."

A few moments later, some brooms flew in through the window. Cleo had her own because she used to play Quidditch, and Petra just had to borrow one from the school.

Cleo sat on hers, she floated just above the ground. Petra copied the motion and tried not to think about the fact that they would fly outside in a few moments.

"You can do this." Cleo smiled reassuringly.

She settled for nodding. She could do it if it meant she would be able to transform into an animal like Cleo.

They flew out of the window. Petra was visibly shaking, she breathed harshly, stared straight forward, and shook a little more.

Don't look down. Don't look down.

"You're doing great," Cleo said from beside her.

She turned her head, opened her eyes and almost fell off her broom at the sight in front of her.

"Get down immediately!" She whined. It was one thing when she stood on the broom two meters above the ground, but they were at least a thousand meters (or something) up.

Cleo shrugged. "Okay then. What do you say we jump?"

"Jump?! Are you crazy?"

"I'm not. I know a spell so we won't get hurt. Do you trust me?"

She sank a lump. "Alright. I do."

"Okay. Then come here." Cleo flew up beside her. "Get both your legs on one side."

Petra didn't know how, but somehow she did manage to get both legs on the same side so she was now facing Cleo. Holding hands helped to stop the shaking, but Petra was still painfully aware of how far there was down.

"We count to three and then we'll jump, and don't let go of my hand, alright?"

She nodded.

"One."

She sank a lump. "T-Two."

"Three."

The broom disappeared under her. Petra clung into Cleo's hand as her life depended on it (which it did a little bit). The ground neared dangerously fast. A scream died in her throat. The wind pulled in their clothes and hair.

"Shit."

"Shit what?!" she exclaimed.

"The spell doesn't work!"

(Petra would later learn, that she was lying to make her conquer her fear).

She felt her heart in her throat, made the mistake of looking down and almost threw up. Luckily her body thought before her brain. Petra took out her wand and yelled at the top of her lungs; "WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA."

They were thrown upwards like with a bungee jump, but then stopped mid-air. Both girls were breathing loudly, it wasn't every day you would jump from the top of the Astronomy tower and think you weren't going to survive it.

Petra slowly sent them down to the snow-covered ground, though her concentration slipped, and they fell the last few meters. Luckily the snow took off from the fall.

"What the hell!" Petra yelled once she had caught her breath.

Though Cleo didn't look ashamed of any kind, instead, her shocked expression turned into one giant smile that reached her eyes.

"It worked Petra, it worked!"

Petra looked down at herself and instead of seeing her own body, she saw fur. She looked around her and spotted a cattail. The fur was dark brown, but some black stripes covered all of her body. When she looked at Cleo again, she was gone, but a little white cat had taken her place.

There was nothing the world could throw at them that they couldn't handle. They were immune to everything! Wanna know why? That had done the almost impossible, and it had worked.

.:lll:.

**Word count; 2764**


End file.
